Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) started from 2020 as a micro-cap. It traded at $ 4 per share, and its market capitalization was just over $ 100 million. The stock had all dropped to land with penny stock. The biotech had no profits and no FDA-approved drugs. Most investors had given up on the stock. But there were reasons to be Bullish.
This thin company probably had the best flu vaccine in the world, NanoFlu. The drug was in the midst of phase 3 trials, and it had won all its head-to-head competitions against the market-leading flu vaccines of Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY). In March, when Novavax reported positive news in its Phase 3 trial for NanoFlu, the stock market jumped to $ 14 per share.
Image Source: Getty Images
This was a fun three-dredger in two months. What made this run even more wonderful was the rest of the stock market in freefall due to the coronavirus. Not surprisingly, Novavax had already announced that it was pursuing a COVID-19 vaccine. And the stock market loves this news.
The stock market jumped dramatically in May, when the Coalition for Epidemic Preparation Innovation (CEPI) invested $ 384 million in Novavax’s vaccine candidate for COVID-19. This was an enormous validation of Novavax’s science and sent the stock skyrocketing to $ 40 per share. In July, Novavax was awarded $ 1.6 billion by Operation Warp Speed to help pay for its COVID-19 vaccine. That news sent the stock more than $ 100. And then positive data from the Phase 1 trial sent the stock above $ 180 per share. And that’s how your share goes up by 4000%.
